Blast From The Past: Boho Chic Style Jeans' Revival

December 13, 2018

It may have changed a lot over the years, but Boho chic is still in.

Boho chic gained prominence in the late 90's to early 2000s, owing to celebrities like Kate Moss and Sienna Miller who were style icons. And over the years, it has become less popular but still Boho chic style survives till today.

Which isn't surprising, considering many components of Boho chic date back to the 60's.

The origins of Boho Chic style

Boho Chic is made up of two words: Boho, which is short for Bohemian Homeless, and Chic, originally borrowed from French in the late 19th century, and has come to mean stylish or elegant.

The roots of Boho Chic trace back to the hippie styles of the middle to late 1960s but only grew in popularity following Sienna Miller's appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2004. Wearing neon glasses, a black minidress with a ruffled hem and a studded belt, Sienna Miller would become the face of Boho chic in the 21st century.

By spring 2005, Boho chic was rampant in London and adherents of the style were referred to as "Siennas." "Floaty, white skirts," cropped jackets, and "hobo bags" were in. Everything else was out.

And thus began the resurgence of boho chic.

Boho Chic celebrities

Many attribute the boho look to Kate Moss who in 1997 had been associated with the so-called "heroin chic" or "waif" look in an advertising campaign for Calvin Klein. However, it was the effortlessness with which Sienna Miller carried the look that made it go mainstream.

Actresses Mischa Barton and Mila Jovovich have also been cited as exponents of the boho look. And worthy of mention is Zoey Deschanel, who brought the vintage look back in June 2008, appearing on the front cover of the magazine BlackBook in a black lace-edged swimsuit.

Boho Chic style today

In 2006, the style director for The Times, Tina Gaudoin, remarked that "when the women's wear buyer at Marks & Spencer is quoted saying 'boho is over', you know the trend is well and truly six foot under." And it seemed that way, but boho chic didn't die; it evolved, and according to London Lite in May 2007:

You may baulk at the very word, but this summer's style has definite nuances of boho – albeit in a very diluted form. Sienna Miller's gipsy skirt brigade somehow didn't finish this feminine trend off for good, and some of the less contrived ingredients – embroidery, leather, gentle frills – are back.

In 2009, Boho chic once again seemed to be on the decline but components of boho chic appeared in collections for spring and summer 2010.

Over the years, Boho chic has continued to evolve, becoming more and more diluted while maintaining the “gypsy girl meets peasant princess with a hippie edge” that has made it a permanent feature in fashion for most of the 21st century.